Lock for receptacle-closures.



G. R, NAPIER.

LOCK FOR RECEPTACLE CLOSURES,

APPLICATION ms!) AUG.23. I915.

1,230,316. Patented June 19, 1917.

2 SHEETS-SH5ET I.

BEES- Mwms PETERS co.Puma-ma.wnsmmmu. u. c

G. R. NAPIER.

LOOK FOR RECEPIACLE CLOSURES.

APPLICATION FILED Aus.23. I915.

1,230,316. Patente dJune19,1917.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

GEORGE n. NAPIER, 0E MACON, GEORGIA.

LOOK FOR RECEPTACLE-CLOSURES.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented J une 19, 1917.

Application filed August 23, 1915. Serial No. 46,899.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, GEORGE R. NAPIER, a citizen of the United States,residing at Macon, in the county of B-ibb and State of Georgia, haveinvented certain new and useful Improvements in Looks for Receptacle-Closures; and I do declare the following to be a full, clear, and exactdescription of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in theart to which it appertains to make and use the same.

' My invention has for its object to provide simple and efficient meansfor locking the closures of numerous kindsof receptacles, the inventionbeing designed primarily for use on sausage stuffing machines.

In describing the invention, I shall refer to the accompanying drawingwherein like reference characters designate corresponding partsthroughout the several vie s and wherein;

Figure 1 is a side elevation of a container equipped with the invention,showing the closure thereof closed in full lines and open in dottedlines;

Fig.- 2 is a similar view of the opposite side of the machine;

Fig. 3 is a vertical section;

Fig. .L is a similar view as seen along a plane disposed at right anglesto the plane on which Fig. 3 is taken;

Fig. 5 is a detail horizontal section as seen on the plane indicated bythe line 55 of Fig. 3;

Fig. 6 is a detail side elevation of the upper end of the machineshowing the closure thereof raised in position to be either disposed toactive or inactive position; and

Fig. 7 is a top plan view of the discharge nozzle of the machine.

In these drawings which constitute a part of the application, thenumeral 1 indicates a cylinder which is preferably disposed in anupright position and su oned upon any preferred type of base 2, thelower end of the cylinder being provided with a solid bottom 3, whilethe upper end 1 thereof is normally open but may be closed at will by acover 5 preferably formed of cast iron or steel and having an annulardepending flange 6 grooved peripherally and receiving packing 7 in thegroove, such packing being forced into contact with the inner side ofthe curved wall of the cylinder 1, at the upper end 4 thereof, when thecover is applied to use.

Preferably though not necessarilv formed as an integralpart of the cover5, is a horizontally disposed bearing 8 in which an oscillatory shaft 9is mounted, the opposite ends of said shaft being provided with crankmeans or eccentrics 10 the axes of which are alined. One of theeccentrics 10 is preferably of greater length than the other and isreceived by the forked upper end 11 of an upright hand lever 12, thefork being pivoted to the eccentric received therein by any preferredmeans, whereby the lever may be swung to opposite sides of the shaft 9,thus allowing the lower end of said lever to be forced into a springclip 13 to lock said shaft either in the position seen in Fig. 2, inwhich position the cover is forcibly seated or in that positiondisclosed in Fig. 6, whereupon the cover may be secured in raisedposition.

Depending from the two eccentrics 10 and having bearings 14 rotatablethereon, is a pair of upright links 15 which are preferably connectedadjustably to the bearings 14 at their upper ends, while their lowerends are integrally or otherwise joined to a horizontal pivot shaft 16which is disposed beneath the bottom 3 and mounted in appropriatebearings 17 carried thereby. By this disposition of parts, when thecover is raised by proper actuation of the lever 12, the links 15 andsaid cover may be swung rearwardly to the dotted line position shown inFig. 1, thereby giving access to the interior of the cylinder 1 throughthe open upper end thereof. In addition to this advantage of theconstruction in question, it will be obvious that the cover 5 may berigidly locked in closed position by the use thereof, and that thecontainer 1 equipped with closing means of the class described couldwell be applied to use for other purposes than the retention of meat forstufling.sausages, as is the case in the present application. 7

Slidably mounted in the cylinder 1 and adapted to be forced upwardlytherein by pressure entering through the inlet pipe 18, is asuitably-constructed meat discharging piston 19 whose specificconstruction constitutes the gist of a separate application, furtherdescription being therefore deemed unnecessary. Normally the piston 19is disposed in the lower end of the cylinder 1, whereupon the cover 5may be removed thus allowing the cylinder to be filledwith the sausagemeat with which the usual flexible containers therefor are to bestuffed. As pressure is now admitted below the piston 19 the same isforced upwardly thus discharging the contents of the cylinder through adischarge nozzle 20 which is mounted on the cover the amount of movementof said piston and therefore the amount of meat discharged through thenoz- 21c 20, being under the control of the operator of the machinethrough the instrumenta'lity of a suitable valve (not shown).

It is rather important that the nozzle 20 be mounted directly upon thecover 5, since by this disposition of parts, the nozzle is so disposedas to render it entirely out of the way of persons filling the cylinder,when the cover 5 is thrown open.

Although the nozzle 20 could well be of practically any preferred form,it is preferably embodied as disclosed most cl mrl-y in Figs. 1 and 7.The construction disclosed in these figures comprises a nipple 21 whichprojects outwardly from a boss or the like formed integrally with thecover and having a port 22 opening through the bottom of said cover, theouter end of said nipple being preferably though not necessarily reducedin diameter and being telescopically engaged with a cap member which isslidable thereon and is preferably provided with a packing ring engagingthe same, said member having therein a port 24:, which, when the nozzleis in operation, registers with an additional port 25 formed through aplate '26 which, constitutes the rear end of the nozzle proper, saidplate as well as the cap member 23, being curved and disposed incontact, whereby the nozzle may be adjusted arcuately to diminish theamount of meat discharged or to check the supply altogether. Guiding theplate 26 in its arcuate adjustments, are the yoke arms 27 which aresecured thereto at the opposite upright edges thereof but pivoted toopposite sides of the nipple, both of these arms being shown of V-shapeconstruction althou h this contour need not be followed too closely,while one of the arms in question is provided with an actuating handle29, whereby the entire nozzle proper may be adjusted in the desiredmanner by proper actuation of said handle.

It is important that the cap member 23 be slidably disposed upon the endof the nipple 21, since by this construction, the material forcedagainst the inner side of said cap member will forcibly project the sameinto contact with the plate 26, thus establishing absolutely tightcontact between these two parts and preventing the escape of material atthis point. This operation takes place regardless of the manner in whichthe nozzle proper is adjusted, and the existing friction between the capmember 23 and the plate 26 is such as to clfectively retain said nozzleproper in its numerous adjusted positions.

In. my United States Patent No. 765,295 issued July 19, 1904,construction similar to the nozzle construction just described isdisclosed, but from experience it has been found that adjustment of thenozzle proper without the use of a. handle for such purpose exerts toomuch strain thereon, the addition of handle 29 being thereforeconsidered a marked improvement over my former invention. Furthermore,the patentin question discloses yoke arms pivotally connected indirectlyto a nipple for allowing the nozzle to be adjusted arcua tely, but tocompensate for wear an adjusting ring is provided for shifting thenozzle toward the rounded end of the nipple. This construction has beenimproved upon by the automatically projected cap member 23 abovedescribed which operates to better advantage, yet is equally as simpleand inexpenslve.

In addition to the several features of the invention above described,simple and eflicient means is preferably employed to properly positionthe cover 5 for application to the cylinder 1. F or this purpose, ahinge knuckle 30 is secured to said cover and pivoted to alongitudinally slotted link 31, the slotted portion of this link beingpivoted and s'lidably connected to a bracket or the like 32 which issecured to the tank. As clearly disclosed in Fig. 6, and in dotted linesin Fig. 1, this construction, although allowing the cover to be swungrearwardly to the necessary extent, will properly dispose said cover forinsertion of its flange (S into the cylinder.

From the foregoing description, taken in connection with theaccompanying drawings, it will be evident that although very simple andcomparatively inexpensive construction has been provided for carryingout the object of the invention, the machine will possess eiliciency,economy and durability.

In the drawings, certain specific details of construction have beenshown for accomplish-ing probably the best results, and in the precedingspecification such details have been described, but it will be evidentthat I need not be limited thereto otherwise than to the extent to whichthe appended claims restrict me.

I claim:

1. The combination of a receptacle having an open end, a closure forsaid end. having a bearing extending throughout its width, a shaftmounted rotatably in said bearing and having eccentrics at its endsextending beyond said bearing, one of said. eccentrics being elongated,an operating handle pivoted to this eccentric and adapted to swingdownwardly, av pair of links having bearings at one end receiving saideccentrics, the other ends of said links being pivotally connected tothe container adjacent the closed end thereof, and a U-shaped springclip carried by one of said links to receive the aforesaid handle whenswung downwardly.

2. The combination of a receptacle having an open end, a closure forsaid end having a bearing extending throughout its width, a shaftmounted rotatably in said bearing and having eccentrics at its endsextending beyond said bearing, one of said eccentrics being elongated,an operating handle pivoted to this eccentric and adapted to swingdownwardly, a pair of links having bearings at one end receiving saideccentrics, a shaft extending across the closed end of the receptacle onthe exterior thereof and joined rigidly at its ends with the other endsof said links, one or more bearings for said last named shaft, and aU-shaped spring clip carried by one of the links to receive theaforesaid handle when swung downwardly.

3. The combination of a receptacle having an open end, a closure forsaid end adapted to move laterally therefrom, a pair of links pivotallyconnected therewith at one end, eccentric locking means connecting theother ends of said links with the closure, a longitudinally slotted linkpivotally connected to one edge of the closure and spaced laterally fromthe receptacle, a rigid arm extending laterally from said receptacle,and a pin projecting from said arm through the slot of the last namedlink for slidably connecting the latter with the arm.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand in presence of twosubscribing witnesses.

GEORGE R. NAPIER. Witnesses F. C. HARDY, J. E. KING.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressingthe Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. C.

